open access

https://hdl.handle.net/2115/94484

The Current Situation of Sámi Crafts Duodji : Focusing on the Cups made from Birch Burl

日本語

2025-03-25

Center for Northern Humanities, Faculty of Humanities and Human Sciences, Hokkaido University

Journal of the Center for Northern Humanities

18

91-111

Duodji represents the craft of the indigenous Sámi people of the North. This term is used to describe Sámi crafts and handicrafts from their own perspective, which differs from the Western artistic paradigm, as also to refer to all items created by the duodjár, the artists creating Duodji. The Sámi are indigenous people residing across four countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. The Northern Sámi term, duodji, has actively been used to denote a unique concept, distinct from Western artistic handicrafts that experienced institutionalization in the 20th century. Among the various crafts comprising duodji, this paper focuses on “kuksa”, a Finnish word that describes a cup made from birch burl. Moreover, this paper describes the current situation and issues regarding duodji, based on research conducted in the Sámi region of Inari, Finland. In Anthropology, discussions of non-Western objects or indigenous art have developed along with discussions of “authenticity”. This paper focuses on the material used to create “kuksa” as a criterion of “authenticity” in the field. However, what emerged from the research was the current situation wherein birch burls that guarantee the “authenticity” of “kuksa” are difficult to find in the young forests of Finland today, and changes in peopleʼs lives and nature in the modern era have also influenced the creation of “kuksa” today. This paper describes the place where “kuksa” is handled in Inari and reveals the “authenticity” surrounding it and the network of “nature and culture”.

紀要論文

Version of Record

1882-773X

AA12313676